Populaire (***)

For those who thought that the erotic possibilities of the manual typewriter had not been sufficiently explored in Secretary comes this tamer French film, set in 1959. Defying her father’s wishes for her to marry the son of the local mechanic, small-town Rose (Déborah François) comes to the slightly bigger town not for love, but to be a secretary. She proves to be a kind of a savant with the typewriter, but not so savvy at other office skills. But instead of firing her, the boss (Romain Duris) presents her with a flyer for a typing competition. When her four-fingered technique proves an impediment to achieving her greatest potential, he becomes her personal trainer, coaching her on the techniques of touch typing. (She types, he touches. Or wants to, anyway.) And so Rose blooms.

Thus this is as much a sports film as a romantic comedy. Director Régis Roinsard swirls the camera around like Martin Scorcese filming a boxing match. The tone is earnest, not satirical. It’s more amusing than funny. I’d have thought that the plot and setting would lend itself to screwball comedy, perhaps something like Down with Love, the Renée Zellweger/Ewan McGregor comedy that tipped its hat to comedies like Pillow Talk, also set in 1959. But François, while very good in the role, is a little too much of a nice girl, though espousing modern feminist sensibilities. And Duris, whose name suggests a French Cary Grant, actually plays a someone brooding character whose reticence supplies the requisite, though not altogether convincing, plot that allows the romantic and competitive portions of the plot to come together at once. The novelty of a typewriting contest and a general likeability counter the lack of originality of the last half hour.

IMDb link

viewed 10/2/13 7:00 at Ritz Bourse and posted 10/2/13